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Three feelings sum up the Arts Sector’s response to COVID–19. Firstly, a feeling of doom and nothing seeming to work. Secondly, a sense of paralysis, coupled with a curiosity about what might work. Thirdly, there’s an optimism about the future, and a fierce determination to survive and thrive in this trying time.
I don’t think these feelings are confined to the Arts Sector, of course, and these feelings alternate with each other even over a single day. Arts organisations are faring better than individual artists. Jobs have some protection, but freelance work sadly does not. Individual artists that have very low incomes, in any case, have lost al

The Liberties is one of Dublin’s oldest neighbourhoods and for Amy Sergison, it’s part of her family history. She revisited the area to explore its evolution.
The Liberties is one of Dublin’s oldest neighbourhoods having been around in one way or another since the 12th century. In my memory, this is where my nana lived and my Dad grew up.
I have very fond memories of visiting my nana on Basin Street. We would know we were close in the car, even if our eyes were closed because we could smell the hops from Guinness. I remember Greta’s shop (sadly gone today), where the floor sparkled like diamonds and jars filled with sugar barley stood tall on top of

Katie Kavanagh, a Dublin 8 based photographer, had an idea. As we’re generally stuck indoors due to COVID-19 restrictions, she’d take portrait shots of her neighbours at their doors. The idea grew legs and she’s linked up with Purple House Cancer Support Centre for the project, ‘Doors Closed, Hearts Open‘. Their aim is to create a gallery of 200,000 Doortraits to support the 200,000 people living with Cancer in Ireland

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Elisa Capitanio is a UX Designer at social media intelligence agency Storyful, and also runs her own independent abstract art business.
She came to Ireland nine years ago completely by chance. Living in Italy, she longed for a change of pace, so she left her home of Bergamo and moved to London. Dublin came calling with an opportunity for Elisa to try her hand at being a web designer, so she packed her bags for a second time and moved country again. Since then, Ireland has become her permanent home and has inspired her art.
She chose Dublin for its fast market and inspiring tech community.
Of working in Dublin’s tech industry, Elisa said:

Traffic: we all hate it. But we’re stuck with – and in – it. Or are we?
A new initiative from Dublin City Council (DCC) and delivery firm UPS is aiming to reduce the number of vehicles on the city’s roads. It uses what UPS call an “Eco Hub” container on Wolfe Tone Street. The Eco Hub acts as a small distribution hub from which deliveries can be made by bike or on foot.
“It came about when we were approached by UPS, who had piloted the same project in London, Paris and Hamburg,” explains Colm Ennis, Senior Executive Engineer with DCC. “We are developing a strategy for city centre goods deliveries and are trying to reduce

In recent years, Dublin has lost some of its most important creative spaces to a building boom that’s reminiscent of the Celtic Tiger era.
Block T in Smithfield and South Studios near Cork Street were both closed down in 2016 with a significant loss of square footage for artists, photographers, designers and writers. In their place, however, a new generation of co-working spaces – aimed specifically at servicing Dublin’s creative communities – is coming into being.
Although they have become abundant in many European capitals in the last few years, co-working spaces are a relatively new arrival in the Dublin property market. In the past 12 months the number

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Following a recent major agreement between the Government and the Hague based Permanent Court of Arbitration there is a significant opportunity for Dublin to become a centre for dispute resolution.
Dublin has a huge amount to offer as an international arbitration venue, including a highly respected legal system. Following the UK’s departure from the EU, Ireland will also be the only fully common-law, English speaking country in the EU. Currently cities including Paris, Zurich and Stockholm have been seen as seats for arbitration, however newer places, including Dublin could now attract high profile cases. This has the potential to be a major boost to the econ

The COVID-19 crisis has resulted in many businesses facing an uncertain future, rethinking how they will make money. Many entrepreneurs have found a silver lining from their new circumstances in being given an unexpected opportunity to work on sustainable and ethical ideas as they reinvent their business.
Making your start-up or existing business sustainable or ethical is also a smart, future-proof option. Customers are now much more informed and aware of the environmental impact of their purchases. A more sustainable product or service will create a positive brand image and reputation that will impact the bottom line of many businesses.

As the impact of the COVID–19 outbreak intensifies, businesses across Dublin are finding ways to diversify to survive the crisis and retain their staff. The virus is hitting our economy hard, and it’s creating a situation that’s well beyond the experience of most business owners. However, in these difficult times, many businesses have managed, with the support of their Local Enterprise Office, to adapt and shift to new products and services quickly.
UNIFORMAL
Uniformal, an established uniform and corporate wear provider based in South Dublin, have been supplying Irish businesses with bespoke and premium ready-to-wear uniform solutions and workwear fo

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With a huge urban campus, state-of-the-art facilities, and the largest student body of any university in Ireland, University College Dublin welcomes hundreds of new international students every year.
UCD prides itself on being Ireland’s global university and has international campuses and strong links to academic institutions in locations as far-flung as Beijing and Malaysia. They have a portfolio of over 500 institutional partnerships in over 90 countries, allowing students and staff to engage in exchange programmes for research, studies, internships, field trips and volunteering opportunities. Around 1,000 students avail of these opportunities every year, a

We sat down with Professor Philip Nolan, president of Maynooth University, to discuss his plans for the university, which lies on the periphery of Dublin. His role focuses on creating a strategy and implementing this to grow and develop the university.
Maynooth University is home to over 1,000 staff and 13,000 students, and more than 1,200 of these are international students hailing from over 60 countries. The university offers a wide range of excellent academic programmes which are delivered by leading researchers in various fields, and students are challenged and encouraged to reach their full potential in this top-class learning environment.
C

Romina Dashghachian is 22. She’s from Germany (her parents are from Iran), and she’s studying for a Master’s in Public Relations at Dublin City University (DCU). Romina’s hometown is Munich, and she reckons that city and Dublin have a lot in common. “Munich has a community feel, so you never feel like you’re in a giant anonymous city. And that’s why I like Dublin as well. When you’re here, you don’t feel like you’re just disappearing in the crowds.”
But how did she come to choose Dublin in the first place? “I was in Dublin two years ago with a friend of mine just for a holiday trip, and we fell

Meetups and events

Moving somewhere new can be daunting; spending time-out with other new arrivals who have shared your experience can really help you to settle in.

If you want to meet up with your fellow nationals in the city, both Meetup and InterNations run groups that can make that happen. Or try one of Dublin’s many thriving groups for ex-pats from different countries: these include associations for private individuals – like Oi (Brasil) and Irlandaitalina (Italy) – as well as associations such as ISEA (Spain) for business people. Universities and many of the larger colleges also have societies run by and for students from various individual countries.

Meetup is also useful if you are interested in meeting the locals. The site enables you to join groups that cater to every interest under the sun, from astronomy to hiking, soccer to coding and even board games and surfing. Each group is different, so regularity and location of meetings varies; but it can be a great way to get to know like-minded people with similar interests.

If you’re looking for one-off events, like concerts, comedy gigs or festivals – many of which are free – Eventbrite is an excellent source and makes it easy to search for and book tickets in one place. Dublin.ie’s What’s On page also has a huge range of regularly updated activities and events.

A particularly good way to meet both international and local people is through a Language Exchange or Conversation Exchange: a regular event during which speakers of different languages come together to pair with an English-speaking person (usually an Irish person) in order for each to practise the other’s language. It’s great for meeting people with an interest in your own culture and language. And if English is not your first language, any shyness or embarrassment you may have about your proficiency is offset by the opportunity to demonstrate your fluency in your native language.

Another great way to settle-in in Dublin is to volunteer through the Volunteer Centre. Helping-out with groups offering services to various causes can really help you to feel part of a community, as well as connecting you with people who care about similar issues.

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Over 17% (approximately 92,000) of Dublin’s population is made up of people originally from other countries, with the vast majority of these hailing from Poland, Romania, the UK, Brazil, Italy, Spain and France. This reflects figures in the rest of the country, with Polish people being the largest non-national group in Ireland.
Some areas of Dublin are more densely internationally populated than others; for example, one in six residents of Fingal, on Dublin’s northside, is a non-Irish national, while that figure stands at a significant 29% in Saggart, on the southside.
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Dublin's festivals are many and varied, spanning every season and a broad range of interests. Some of the biggest are ones you might guess; but there's a whole host of more unusual – and no less enjoyable! – festivals on offer, just waiting to be joined.

Dublin city stretches across 115km², with the county itself covering 921km². While it’s not the biggest area, as Ireland’s capital city, it has a lot going on – which is why it’s split into four local authorities: Dublin City Council, Fingal County Council, South Dublin County Council and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council.